Quarters for officers 96 by 28 feet and two stories high built in 1814.

Report from the Fort16 October 1844 . Major Brevet C.W. Thomas

The officers attached to the post are six - five company officers and one assistant surgeon with rank of Captain. It will be seen that the quarters are ample, even if all the officers should be present, one is absent permanently.

Four officers were assigned to this well-equipped building with two apartments per floor and kitchen wings with interior staircases. (The commanding officer of the post lived in the more spacious and elegant Commandant's House.) Each officer had two rooms with back-to-back fireplaces, closet space, and a kitchen with a cooking fireplace. The structure's symmetry, porch, and matching exterior staircases represent typical military architecture of the Federal Period. Solid exterior shutters protected windows from both the elements and enemy. The porch roof is supported by eight round columns of solid wood. A unique feature of the porch is the use of iron straps to support the flooring and an ornate wrought iron balustrade with cast-iron rosettes. The iron work was probably made by the Fort Mifflin blacksmith. The railing stands alone in the fort complex as a reminder of beauty and grace and makes the Officers' Quarters more distinctive than the Soldiers' Barracks.

A sampling of the names of Officers who served at Fort Mifflin after 1814 and may have lived in this building includes:

Rank Insignia for Army OfficersEdge laced shoulder bars of colored cloth show thebranch of service and are ornamented withspecial insignia of rank.

Calvary - YellowInfantry - Light blueArtillery - Red

GeneralFour silver stars

Lieutenant GeneralThree silver stars

Major GeneralTwo silver stars

Brigadier GeneralOne silver star

ColonelSilver eagle

Lieutenant ColonelSilver oak leaf

MajorGold oak leaf

CaptainTwo gold bars

First LieutenantOne silver bar

Second LieutenantOne gold bar

The hierarchy of living quarters and life style in the military has always been determined by rank. A General Order defining the allowance of fuel and living accommodations for 1814 provides a good example of standards for that year.

Adjutant and Inspector General's OfficeGeneral Order December 1, 1814

The following will govern the allowance of quarters and of fuel to officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates of the army. When in garrisons or in cantonment [temporary housing for troops] in regards to the regulations heretofore adopted for that purpose.

Listed below are Quarters and Monthly Allowance of Wood from 30 April to 1 Nov...and... from 1 Nov to 30 April:

To a Major General, three rooms and a kitchen?1?.6

To a Brigadier General, Commissary General of Ordinance, Physicians and Surgeon General, each two rooms and a kitchen?..1?..4½

To every other officer having the rank of field officer, one room and a kitchen?..1?..3

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